Alright, so. Minimalism. Its an offshoot of classical music, but it has more of a place in 'popular' culture: it can be found in many film scores, video games, and commercials. Minimalism is the quintessential 'music for non-musicians.' Back when it first took off in the 1960's, it was the response to some....very experimental compositions. Many composers were writing music to impress other composers. There was little to no structure and required master musicians to perform it; it was not easy listening, to say the least. This group of New York composers started writing minimalist music to take music back to something simpler, back to something people could relate to and enjoy. They focused on steady beats and simple harmonies that were easy to follow. They were all really influenced by gamelan music (we'll cover that in a later post, but feel free to look it up). The term minimalism was either coined by Michael Nyman or Tom Johnson, both active composers in the advent of minimalism. There is debate over who said it first. Whoever said it first, its obvious that the term is related to the minimalist art movement (pioneered by artists such as Frank Stella and Kenneth Noland).
Frank Stella <--------
Kenneth Noland
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Alright. First we start with Steve Reich. He wrote many musically notable (SEE WHAT I DID THERE) pieces that are well known in the music community....but rather less known outside of academia. Reich tended to focus on simplistic rhythms and what he could do with them. He wrote a piece called clapping music, written for....well, for 4 hands. (heh.)
MUSIC LESSON!! Syncopation is when the emphasized beats don't fall on traditionally strong parts of the measure.
But then, it evolves, ever so slightly. If you listen, you can hear it start to change. And then it changes a little more...and before you know it, that simple rhythm sounds completely insanely difficult. Wow.
He also wrote this. I know its kind of a long video....bear with me. Also let me preface this by saying these musicians are INCREDIBLY talented to do this live without equipment.
Onwards to Philip Glass! This guy and Steve Reich ran in the same music circles back in the 60's, so its no wonder that their music has similar ideas. Glass has since distanced himself from being called a minimalist, and prefers to be known as a "classicist with emphasis on repetitive patterns." I was a Philip Glass groupie in high school. It was my first foray into anything classical written in the 20th century, and I fell in love with his music right away. I was devastated when I heard that he was playing at University of Illinois ON A SCHOOL NIGHT, so obviously I couldn't go. Ahem.
Glass focuses a bit more on the simple harmonic structure (in my opinion) (which doesn't mean much in academia) (or really anywhere for that matter). He also experimented with using vocals. Singing the same thing over and over (and over) again sounds easy, but its actually pretty challenging as you have to remain in tune. If you're feeling especially adventurous, check out one of his operas, Einstein on the Beach. Its fantastic, but not for the faint of heart. Anywho, the following video is a piece called "Etoile Polaire", from Analog.
You might be tempted to turn this off, but I encourage you to stick with it until at least 1:02. Then enjoy until the end. He doesn't use any notes outside the key, but still managed to build some seriously awesome texture. That's really what minimalism is about at the end of the day - texture.
Glass has written some stunning instrumental music, and he has also written film scores (such as The Hours, Taking Lives, Candy Man, and Secret Window, to name just a few). Here is a track from The Hours, a fantastic film about Virginia Woolf that everyone should see.
Note the use of subtle scalar chromaticism (moving around note by note in small increments instead of leaping to and from them) and how natural and unobtrusive it is. That right there is the beauty of Philip Glass' film scores - they ADD to the scenes, and they add so much, but without taking away or drawing focus. That is extremely difficult.
So finally, I'm going to touch on Arvo Part (pronounced like peart). He has been classified as a 'holy minimimalism' composer because of his use of minimalist principles in religious works like His Te Deum and Magnificat. I strongly suggest you follow some youtube trails on Part, because all of his music is stunning. This video here is my favorite piece of his. It brings me to (happy) tears, and if I close my eyes the music leads me through a movie of all my happiest moments in life. I don't care if this is sappy.
At 2:26, my heart melts into a big puddle. Just listen to those soaring melodic lines and let them pull on your heart strings. This piece is so amazingly beautiful, and it is one of my all time favorite minimalist pieces. The technique he used in many of his pieces, (including this one, Alina, and Tabula Rasa) is called tintinnabuli, which refers to the ringing of bells. Arvo Part is an Estonian composer.
That's all for tonight, my friends. If you loved this post, then STAY TUNED. There will be more minimalist posts in the future - tonight's post was just an overview.
Next time - METAL.
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